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56 reviews for:
I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope
Valerie Gilpeer, Emily Grodin
3.57 AVERAGE
56 reviews for:
I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope
Valerie Gilpeer, Emily Grodin
3.57 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
This book is written by a narcissistic mother with an immense savior complex. It made me really mad.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book is a memoir of Autism and Hope by Valerie Gilpeer and Emily Grodin. The book is written by a mom, Valerie Gilpeer, and her child, Emily Grodin, who lives with autism. Emily Grodin rises like a phoenix and speaks to us directly about her life experiences, not just in prose but also in beautiful poetry.
This book brings to light how wrong our judgements about people with autism can be, how shallow our understanding about neurodivergence is and how persistence, patience and love can truly work magic and miracles. “I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust” speaks to the heart of a parent with a child with neurodiversity and elucidates the challenges and the struggles of coming to terms with various situations in the most honest way I have seen written.
In writing this review, I have taken inputs from my sister, who is a physiotherapist who works with kids with neurological disorders.
Valerie speaks about her child’s early development years and her child’s development milestones. She writes about the lessons she understood then and how she re-understood it later in life. She speaks about her struggle and constant battle towards making sure Emily spent most of her time in an inclusive environment in school, despite the resistance from school authorities and the animosity of neurotypical kids towards Emily and her “strange” behaviours and inability to communicate verbally.
Reading about Valerie makes me believe in the value that a parent, who devotes their life to understanding their child and ensuring a holistic development despite what naysayers have to say, brings to the table. A relentless hope, despite the daily obstacles, was awe-inspiring. Valerie’s wishes and hopes that the others in the world would understand Emily could have moved mountains and it did! That moment when Emily starts communicating via typing, despite not being able to speak her mind out verbally for 25 years made me tear up.
Valerie bares her heart about the numerous instances when she had to be the human bridge between her child and the world, and also of those moments when she had to be the human shield. There are priceless moments in the book that other parents can relate to: for example, when the specialist took only a moment to diagnose Emily’s behavioural issues as autism and how Valerie couldn’t believe the seemingly callous diagnosis, but years later she understands that the signs of autism are evident to a trained professional.
The book describes the true struggle parents and people with autism have with behavioural therapies. The descriptions of the various therapies undertaken by various professionals have been painstakingly described with as much clarity as possible to ensure that anyone reading this memoir can get a fairly good idea of what lies ahead for kids with autism. In the initial part of the book, Valerie explained what she and her husband Tom went through. Once Emily was able to communicate her side of the story, several misunderstandings were rectified and truths were uncovered.
Valerie and Emily were able to bring to light the fact that each individual with autism is different. They have been true to their journey while stating that each family with autism may have a different story.
Though the theme of this book is autism, the book touches on the topic of the challenges that children/people who have difficulty communicating with others face on a daily basis and how as a society of civilized people we let them down with our lack of compassion and our need to make fun of anything out of ordinary. There are a few instances in this book where Black people made Emily feel more at home than white people, which puts every privileged person to shame. It reminds you, the reader, of the power of little kindnesses: people remember them far more than the effort it took you to do it.
“I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust” is specially recommended to those that are involved or may know anyone termed different by society. I also highly recommend this book to those who want to read a soulful book.
This book brings to light how wrong our judgements about people with autism can be, how shallow our understanding about neurodivergence is and how persistence, patience and love can truly work magic and miracles. “I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust” speaks to the heart of a parent with a child with neurodiversity and elucidates the challenges and the struggles of coming to terms with various situations in the most honest way I have seen written.
In writing this review, I have taken inputs from my sister, who is a physiotherapist who works with kids with neurological disorders.
Valerie speaks about her child’s early development years and her child’s development milestones. She writes about the lessons she understood then and how she re-understood it later in life. She speaks about her struggle and constant battle towards making sure Emily spent most of her time in an inclusive environment in school, despite the resistance from school authorities and the animosity of neurotypical kids towards Emily and her “strange” behaviours and inability to communicate verbally.
Reading about Valerie makes me believe in the value that a parent, who devotes their life to understanding their child and ensuring a holistic development despite what naysayers have to say, brings to the table. A relentless hope, despite the daily obstacles, was awe-inspiring. Valerie’s wishes and hopes that the others in the world would understand Emily could have moved mountains and it did! That moment when Emily starts communicating via typing, despite not being able to speak her mind out verbally for 25 years made me tear up.
Valerie bares her heart about the numerous instances when she had to be the human bridge between her child and the world, and also of those moments when she had to be the human shield. There are priceless moments in the book that other parents can relate to: for example, when the specialist took only a moment to diagnose Emily’s behavioural issues as autism and how Valerie couldn’t believe the seemingly callous diagnosis, but years later she understands that the signs of autism are evident to a trained professional.
The book describes the true struggle parents and people with autism have with behavioural therapies. The descriptions of the various therapies undertaken by various professionals have been painstakingly described with as much clarity as possible to ensure that anyone reading this memoir can get a fairly good idea of what lies ahead for kids with autism. In the initial part of the book, Valerie explained what she and her husband Tom went through. Once Emily was able to communicate her side of the story, several misunderstandings were rectified and truths were uncovered.
Valerie and Emily were able to bring to light the fact that each individual with autism is different. They have been true to their journey while stating that each family with autism may have a different story.
Though the theme of this book is autism, the book touches on the topic of the challenges that children/people who have difficulty communicating with others face on a daily basis and how as a society of civilized people we let them down with our lack of compassion and our need to make fun of anything out of ordinary. There are a few instances in this book where Black people made Emily feel more at home than white people, which puts every privileged person to shame. It reminds you, the reader, of the power of little kindnesses: people remember them far more than the effort it took you to do it.
“I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust” is specially recommended to those that are involved or may know anyone termed different by society. I also highly recommend this book to those who want to read a soulful book.